When the COVID-19 pandemic broke, Donald Trump actually made a couple of smart moves. He created a task force and assigned renowned immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci to be a part of that task force.
The president, however, has ignored much of the advice Fauci has given him. He’s also basically demoted the immunologist and Dr. Deborah Birx and elevated Scott Atlas, who has no experience combating a pandemic.
And according to Dr. Fauci, the president doesn’t even bother to show up to the task force meetings anymore. The doctor says that Trump hasn’t attended one for “several months.”
Fauci made the comments while speaking with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd. He told the host, “That was several months ago, Chuck. Several months ago [since Trump has attended a meeting].”
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The doctor continued, “I definitely don’t have his ear as much as Scott Atlas right now.”
Fauci did say that Vice President Mike Pence, who was named the head of the task force, does show up to the meetings.
“We certainly interact with the vice president at the task force meetings, and the vice president makes our feelings and what we talk about there known to the President,” he said. “But direct involvement with the President in the discussions…I have not done that in a while.”
Watch a clip of the interview below courtesy of MSNBC:
Fauci says it's been "several months" since Trump last attended a COVID-19 task force meeting. pic.twitter.com/esr2YOrgYN
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) October 23, 2020
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.
